Wednesday, May 13, 2015

One Man...A Blast From The Past

One Man…In The Name Of Love (A re-post of one of my most popular musings from days of yore)

America had always been about hope. And
liberty.

Personal, constitutionally enumerated rights, limited government. You
own your property, your body and its labor. Government
can’t arbitrarily, capriciously take it away. This made us unique among
nations. And it led to unique results.

For most of 200 years the country believed it
could do anything. For most of 200 years, it did. Problem? Bring it on! Here’s
a solution! We’re not talking about perfection, no mythical utopia or Heaven on
Earth.

We’re talking about real problems wrestled
with by real people.

And the answers they came up with were some
of the most beautiful and profound ever crafted by man.

The Declaration of Independence (freedom from a repressive, unrepresentative government), the Emancipation
Proclamation, the Marshall Plan, etc.

“Ask not what your country can do for you…ask
what you can do for your country.”

“Let all nations know, whether they wish us
well or ill, that we will go anywhere and pay any price in defense of freedom!”
Duty. Honor. Country.

It’s over. It’s really over. A great run by a formerly fine little country
with a formerly fine little experiment, but obviously we are truly to be left
on the ash heap of history. America is essentially finished thought some in the
intelligentsia. Many (most) ‘only’ thought our best days were behind us.

Hostage Crisis, 444 days and for the first
time America has no effective response when its own are taken prisoner by a
foreign nation. Disgrace. Weakness. Indecision. Guilt.

Nuclear winter. Global cooling. Silent Spring.
Apocalypse Now. My God, there is no way
out of all of this! Where could the
nation…the world…turn for inspiration?

Into the void strode one man, brashly
declaring it to be, “Morning in America.” HUH?

He was right, as he made it right. The promise of a renewed America. Delivered, like
almost all the others. Is this a politician? Hostages on the way back home during the inaugural. (“Ronald Reagan is
president of your country now? O.K., back you go now, all big MISTAKE. Have
nice trip, going to miss you, kiss, kiss!)”

The largest and longest economic
expansion in American history. The seventeen ‘Fat Years’ that the Clinton
administration benefited from. Interest rates and unemployment rates plummeted
with the tax rates. So did inflation. The American Dream…restored. People in
houses again, not doghouses. A new term had to be coined for a raging economy without inflation. “Reagan Rally” on
Wall Street.

The seventeen fat years were proceeded by the
thirteen anorexic ones. An incredible amount of time in each case to decide
what policies work and don’t work.

Call it like it is…the “Evil Empire”.
Say what you believe. You believe?
Give the world clarity…and hope. “Mr.
Gorbachev tear down this wall.’

And a now former president smiles. History
should never forget what you did here…and will
remember what you said here.

When the wall finally fell for president
Reagan, and he went to that shining city on a hill, much of America was in
mourning.

President Reagan’s legacy and beliefs are
still here for us to follow, if we are wise enough and true enough to our
constitution, our history, and our soul, to pull back from the new abyss we’re
staring into now. An abyss of the soul. An abyss of character.

Mr. president, if we do follow your lead,
perhaps it will forevermore be…”Morning in America” for us…as it is for you.
Thank you Mr. president, thank you.

POSTSCRIPT:

Ronald Reagan can easily be argued to have
faced one of the four or five most difficult sets of problems to encounter any
incoming president in American history, as I hope I’ve just illustrated.

He won the longest (Cold) war without firing a
shot, turned a moribund economy around, gave hope and restored pride to the
American people and indeed much of the world. Far from starting wars around the
globe or nuking it out with the USSR, he negotiated the first real nuclear arms
reduction treaties and hoped to
eliminate nuclear arms entirely.

George Washington could’ve been king, was the
first president and had to chart a course. He set precedents that would
resonate throughout history and help define a nation. No pressure.

Abraham Lincoln had to keep the country
together…through a civil war. “Could
a nation so dedicated and so conceived long survive?” Wow. To me, this is
obviously the toughest task any president has faced.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt had an
actual depression, as well as the Second World War to entertain him. Financial
institutions and the rise of communism in the country were also concerns.
Fortunately, he had a good and great buddy overseas. (As did Reagan).

One can’t project persons or
presidents into different eras and situations and proclaim to know exactly what
they would have done or not done. And, of course, there is some subjectivity
here. However it should be quite clear that these are presidents who faced some
of the most daunting challenges in American history. Each of them helped shape
a nation by their bold and courageous leadership.

If ever a second ‘Mount Rushmore’ is created,
here’s hoping that president Reagan’s likeness is on it.

Daily Trivia Quiz Answer

Today's Answer: Andrew Jackson. ("Poll" got so worked up before the service he apparently had to be removed from the premises, as he was cussing long and loud).

Q) What words appear on the front of the penny, nickel, dime and quarter, alongside the likeness of presidents?

A) "Liberty" and "In God We Trust"

An Ode To Life

Appreciate all you have, as it- and you- will soon be gone. Leave no heartfelt words unspoken, no sweet gesture incomplete, no act of love undone. Love your spouse with passion and abandon, your kids with patience and understanding but also a firm guidance. Love also the truth, no matter how hard. If pursued by enough people with enough courage, it really will set us free.

And don't forget, we didn't ask to be born. We didn't create ourselves. We are not gods. There is a higher power.

Fireworks of the Mind

Write It Up

Whence Shall Come Another?

True Then, True Now

"If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves."- Winston Churchill

Time Well Wasted

The power lies within your hands To do with what you may But the hourglass is filled with sands Of endless yesterdays